Alabama

Lineup set for Birmingham High School Football Media Days in Gardendale later this month

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The schedule for the 2014 Jefferson and Shelby County Media Days has been set for the upcoming two-day event at the Gardendale Civic Center on July 28-29. (Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The field is set. There are 43 area programs from Jefferson and Shelby County lined up on the docket for 16-minute interview sessions on July 28-29 at the Gardendale Civic Center.

The event starts that Monday with the host coach Jerry Hood greeting the assembled media with his Clay-Chalkville team. Other highlights will be the first appearance for the Helena program getting ready for its inaugural season in 2014. Class 6A state contender Shades Valley also follows on the first day.

Vestavia Hills will also be on the first day of the docket as they head into a season where legendary coach Buddy Anderson is set to break the all-time career wins record for a high school football coach in Alabama this season.

Hoover's dominating program highlights the Tuesday session of the Jefferson County Football Coaches Association's Media Days. The two-time defending state champions will take their lofty national rankings and a 30-game win streak into Class 7A this fall.

Leeds -- another contending team for 2014 -- rise to Class 4A but returns a stacked team for another run at an Alabama High School Athletic Association blue map. Coach Keith Etheredge has already led the Green Wave to two AHSAA state titles in Class 3A.

The format is the same as in years past. The coach might sometimes might be an assistant due to late summer vacations and travel schedules. That member of the coaching staff is asked to bring along just two players. That's the expectation for every program and a fairness issue all programs are asked to abide by.

When one school brings along more than two players, parents of other programs have asked the head coach of their son's team why their school was not allowed to bring more than two players. So what might be a gesture to bring along a valued and hard-working player for one team has sometimes in the past caused problems for his peers at other schools in Jefferson and Shelby County.